Pile elevator



Mal'flh 1965 F. KASTELIC ETAL 3,

PILE ELEVATOR 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Jan. 8, 1962 30 INVENTORS FRANK L. KASTELIC FIGJ BY PETER M. REIF I i g ATTORNEYS March 1965 F. L. KASTELIC ETAL 3,

PILE ELEVATOR 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Jan. 8, 1962 INVENTORS FRANK L. KASTELIC BY PETER M. REIF' JWgW ATTORNEYS Mair-2h 9, 1965 F. L. KASTELIC ETAL 3,172,658

PILE ELEVATOR Filed Jan. 8, 1962 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTORS FRANK L. KASTELIC FIG.|O BY PETER M. REIF ATTO NEYS United States Patent 3,172,658 PEE ELEVATOR Frank L. Kastelic, Cleveland, and Peter M. Reif, South Euclid, Ohio, assignors to Harris-Intertype Corporation, Cleveland, Ohio, a corporation of Delaware Filed Jan. 8, 1962, Ser. No. 164,832 18 Claims. (Cl. 271-62) The present invention relates to a pile elevator for supporting and elevating a pile of sheets as the top sheets are periodically removed therefrom.

Sheets to be fed to a machine, such as a printing press, are commonly disposed in a pile elevator which supports the pile and elevates the latter as top sheets are removed therefrom to maintain the top of the pile at a predetermined level so that the mechanism for removing the sheets may operate properly. In such elevators, the pile of sheets is supported on a hoist and the front side of the pile commonly engages vertically disposed pile-guiding means which guide the pile as it is being elevated. In pile elevators used with sheet feeders for printing presses, the side of the elevator defined by the vertical guide means, or front guides, is generally termed the front or forward end of the elevator, since the sheets taken from the top of the pile are moved forwardly over the top of the vertical guide means to the printing press.

Pile elevators are commonly loaded from the side and the elevators have had an adjustment for adjusting the pile sideways along the front guides. Problems, however, have been encountered in such elevators in obtaining proper engagement of the front side of the pile with the front guides.

In one type of elevator which has been heretofore provided, the pile is supported on a pile support and the support is suspended and urged toward the front guides by cables, the cables being inclined with respect to the vertical to cause the gravitational urging of the pile support toward the guides. The cables are wound onto or unwound from a drum to raise or lower the pile support. When the pile support is lowered to receive a new pile, the latter has been moved away from the front guides by cams operating on the pile support. When the new pile has been placed into position on the pile support and the latter is moved upwardly, the cam allows the cables to swing the pile support toward the front guides to engage the front side of the pile with the front guides. Problems have been encountered in disposing the new pile on the pile-supporting platform in a position where the movement which is obtainable with the described structure will assure that the front side of the pile properly engages the front guides as the pile is elevated, particularly when the elevator is loaded from the side.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a new and improved pile elevator including vertical guide means for guiding one side of the pile as the latter is elevated and in which the elevatable load support of the elevator mounts a pile-supporting platform for movement relative to the load support toward and away from the guides and for sideways movement parallel to the plane of the guide means.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a pile elevator of the type in which vertical guide means is provided to guide the front of a sheet pile being elevated by a hoist and in which a pile-supporting platform is supported on the hoist for movement sideways with respect to the vertical guide means and the hoist and is movable relative to the hoist toward and away from the vertical guide means and is preferably so constructed as to be receivable in a shallow recess in a floor underneath the elevator, with the load-supporting platform being located flush with the floor.

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Still another object of the present invention is to provide a new and improved pile elevator having vertical guide means along one side of the elevator to guide the pile as it is moved vertically and in which the pile is supported on a member which is movable relative to the elevator toward and away from the guides, with the member preferably being actuated by motor means, such as a fluid pressure motor, which is operable to continuously urge the member and pile thereon toward the front guides.

A still further object is to provide a new and improved, thin elevatable load support for a pile of sheets which is constructed in such a manner that a pile of sheets thereon can be adjusted parallel to either of two perpendicular sides of the support.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a new and improved pile elevator load support which has relatively movable frame members to provide adjustment of the load and which is so constructed that the tendency of the movable frame members to bind is mini mized when one corner of the support is raised.

Further objects and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the following detailed descrip tion thereof made with reference to the accompanying drawings forming a part of the present specification and in which:

FIG. 1 is a side elevational view of a pile feeder having an elevator embodying the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary, horizontal sectional view taken approximately along line 22 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged view of a part of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken approximately along line 44 of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a sectional view taken approximately along line 5-5 of FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a sectional view taken approximately along line 6-6 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 7 is a detail, fragmentary elevational view, taken approximately from line 77' of FIG. 2;

FIG. 8 is an enlarged view of a part of FIG. 1 with parts thereof cut away;

FIG. 9 is an enlarged view of a part of FIG. 2; and

FIG. 10 is a fragmentary enlarged view of a partof FIG. 2 showing an adjustment for side shifting the load on the elevator. The present invention has been shown as embodied in a pile elevator 10 of a pile feeder for elevating a pile of sheets as the top sheets are removed therefrom. The top sheets may be removed from the pile by any conventional sheet separating and forwarding mechanism and, since such mechanism is well known to those skilled in the art and does not, per se, form a part of the present invention, the separating and forwarding mechanism has not been shown in the drawings and will not be further described. Sufiice it to say that the elevator 10 is operated to elevate the sheet pile to maintain the top thereof at a predetermined level as the top sheets are removed and forwarded from the pile.

The pile which is to be elevated is normally supported on a mill skid 12 and the mill skid is positioned on a hoist 13 of the elevator. The sheets being taken from the top of the pile are forwarded to the left as the elevator is viewed in FIG. 1 over the top of vertical front guide means 14. The vertical front guide means 14 may comprise a plurality of front stakes or guides spaced across the front end of the elevator, i.e., the left-hand end as viewed in FIG. 1, between front side frames 15. As the sheet pile is being elevated, the front side of the pile is maintained in engagement with the front guides 14, in order to properly position the front edge of the 3 sheets for the sheet separating and forwarding mechanism.

The hoist 13 includes structure which provides for adjusting movement of the pile sideways of, and toward and away from, the front guides 14.

In the preferred and illustrated embodiment, the mill skid supporting the pile is placed on a load plate 16 movably supported on a framework 17 interconnecting spaced cross rails 18, 19 extending across the elevator at the front and rear thereof generally parallel to the plane of the front stakes or guides 14. The front and rear rails 18, 19 are angle members having vertical flanges 20 and horizontal flanges 21. The cross rails are supported at their ends by stirrup members 23 suspended by flexible connections 24, which are cables in the illustrated embodiment. There is a stirrup member 23 adjacent each end of the cross rails 18, 19 and each end of the rails 18, 19 has a tongue 22 fixed to the vertical flange 20' of the rail and extending lengthwise of the rail from the flange to be received in the adjacent stirrup member 23. Each stirrup member is a block and the adjacent tongue 22 is received in a vertically extending, transverse slotlike opening 25 which extends through the block and which also opens into the bottom thereof. The stirrup members also have a horizontal slot 26 opening inwardly from the top of the member and extending from the front to the rear of the block as the latter is disposed in the feeder, and the depth of the slot 26 is such that it intersects the vertical slotlike opening 25. The cable 24 for a stirrup member is fastened to a pin 27 received in the opening 25, the pin abutting the upper end of the opening and having an enlarged portion 27a which is received between the sides of the slot 26 to limit the pin and stirrup member 23 against relative movement endwise of the pin. The stirrup, therefore, merely hangs on the pin 27.

The tongue 22, received by each of the stirrup members, rides on a roller 28 which is supported on a pin or stud 29 that extends between the side walls of the vertical opening 25 of the stirrup member. the tongues 22 allow the rails to be rocked relative to the stirrup members with the rollers as fulcrums.

The stirrup members 23 on the near side of the elevator, as the latter is viewed in FIG. 1, are tied together by a side rail 30 and the stirrup members on the far side are tied together by a side rail 31. The rail 30 extends generally perpendicularly to the plane of the front guides 14 and is comprised of channel members 30a, 39b spaced and interconnected by blocks 39c disposed therebetween. The webs or bottoms of the channels in the members 30a, 30b lie in vertical planes and face each other and the stirrup members 23 at each end of the rail 30 are disposed between the channel members and pivotally connected thereto by screws 32 which pass through respective holes 33 in the channel members 39a, 36b and thread into the lower portion of the stirrup member received between the channel members. The openings 33 are large enough to receive washers 34 disposed about the shanks of screws 32 and the screws 32 have heads each of which engage an outermost washer 35 of larger diameter than the holes 33 so that the washer overlies the bottom of the adjacent channel member. The structures are such that the washers 34 prevent the washers 35 from engaging the channel members so that the screws cannot clamp the outer washers tightly against the channel members and hold the stirrup members against pivotal movement.

"The structure of the side rail 31 and the connection of the stirrup members 23 thereto correspond to the described structure for side rail 36.

The stirrup members 23 at the forward ends of the side rails 30, 31 have guide fingers fixed thereto and the fingers extend lengthwise from the forward ends to be received in vertical guide grooves 41 in the adjacent side frames 15. The guide fingers 49 limit the move- The clearances above d ment of the stirrup members and rails 36, 31 in a forward direction, as well as against sideways movement, and guide the rails in their vertical movement.

Each of the stirrup members 23 at the rear ends of the rails 36, 31 have fixed thereto a yoke 43 which includes a U-shaped portion 44. The U-shaped portions 44 open to the right, as viewed in FIG. 2, and fit over an adjacent rear post 46 of the framework of the elevator. The posts 46 and the yoke 43 function to guide the elevator vertically and the U-shaped portions 44 limit the adjacent ends of the rails against lateral movement relative to the posts 46 in all directions except the forward direction, the elevator being limited against movement in the forward direction by the engagement of the guide fingers 49 with the bottom of their guide slots 41. Consequently, the rails 30, 31 are constrained to move in a vertical plane.

The framework 17 interconnecting the front and rear cross rails 18, 19 comprises a plurality of inverted chan= nels 53, the ends of which are fixed to the flanges 21 of the rails. The channels 53 are disposed in spaced relationship along the length of the cross rails 18, 19 and are welded or otherwise connected to the cross rails. The open bottoms of the channels are closed by reinforcing plates 53a welded to the sides of the channels. Each of the inverted channels 53 supports a plurality of rollers 54 disposed along each of the sides of the channel, with the upper portions of the periphery of the rollers extending above the tops of the channels 53. The rollers 54 along each channel are arranged in pairs with the pairs being spaced from each other along the length of the channels 53 and the rollers of each pair being disposed on opposite sides of the supporting channel therefor and being mounted on a shaft 55 extending through and outwardly of the side walls of the supporting channel 53. The rollers 54 define a load-supporting surface and the load plate 16 is supported on the rollers 54, and the rollers 54 provide for movement of the load plate 16 relative to the framework 17 in a direction toward or away from the front guide means 14. The load plate is constrained in a sideways direction relative to the framework 17 by spaced gibs 59 on the underside of the'plate 16 adjacent the'outer side of each of the outboard channels 53. The gibs engage the adjacent channels 53 to prevent movement of the plate relative to the channels transversely of the channels but do not interfere with movement lengthwise of the channels.

The load plate 16 is moved toward and away from the front guides by air actuators 60 mounted on the outer side of the vertical flange 20 of the rear cross rail 19, the vertical flange extending upwardly to a position above the load plate 16 and the air actuators 66 each having a movable element connected to the rear edge of the load plate 16. As is apparent from the drawings, the load plate 16 has a frcnt-to-rear dimension which is less than the spacing between the vertical flanges 20 of the rails 18, 19 so that the plate may be shifted forwardly and rearwardly relative to the supporting framework.

As is shown in the drawings, the preferred and illustrated embodiment utilizes air actuators in the form of a cylinder 62 which receives a piston to which a piston rod 61 is connected and which is preferably a doubleacting air cylinder. The cylinder 62 is fixed to the outer side of the flange 20 of the cross rail 19 and the piston rod 61 extends through a hole in the flange to connect to a bracket 63. The air cylinders are preferably controlled by a suitable four-way air valve 65, also fixed to the outer side of the flange 20 of the cross rail 19, the air valve having respective positions in which air is applied to a respective side of the pistons in the actuators 6t and the other side is connected to drain or exhaust.

The framework 17, as pointed out hereinbefore, can be shifted sideways relative to the rails 30, 31 and stirrup members 23 and, in the illustrated and preferred embodiment, a ball screw 67 is supported by the side nmles 'rail 3% and extends transversely of the side rail 30 and is connected to a bracket 68 fixed to the channel 53 nearest the side rail 30. The end of the screw 67 connected to the bracket 68 is rotatably received in the bracket 68 but is limited against axial movement with respect thereto.

The screw 67 is received in a nut 70 of the recirculating ball type. The nut 70 is supported between the channel members 39a, 30b and is fixed against rotation and against axial movement relative to the side rail 36. The outer end of the screw has a clevis-type bracket 72 which mounts a handle 73 that may be used to rotate the screw 67 to thread the screw into or out of the nut 70 to, in turn, shift the framework 17 sideways and the rails 18, 19 endwise. The shifting of the framework 17 sideways will cause the load plate 16 to move sideways therewith to shift a pile thereon sideways relative to the front guides. The handle 73 is pivoted and may be moved to a position in line with the ball screw, as shown in the drawings, so as not to interfere with pile loading.

Preferably, the load plate 16 is always returned to a centered position when the hoist is lowered to receive a new pile. To this end, cam rollers 75 are supported on respective studs 76 extending perpendicularly to the vertical flange 20 of the cross rail 19 and mounted in respective brackets 77 fixed to the flange. A roller 75 is adjacent each of the air actuators 60 and, when the hoist is lowered, each roller is received between a respective pair of spaced cam members 89 extending upwardly from the floor and having inwardly and downwardly inclined cam surfaces 81 forming the top inner surfaces thereof. If the load plate 16 is displaced from a centered position when the hoist is being lowered, the cam rollers 75 will engage one of the cam surfaces 81 and the surface will shift the rollers to a centered position to be received between the corresponding pair of cam members 81). In addition to the rollers 75 supported on the flange 29 of the cross rail 19, a similar roller 75 is mounted on the front cross rail 18 and cooperates with corresponding spaced cam members 80. It will be noted that the ball screw 67 is a reversible connection which will allow the rollers 75 to shift the load plate 16.

Preferably, the pile-supporting means of the hoist is received in a shallow recess 82 in the floor supporting the elevator when the hoist is lowered. The recess is best shown in FIG. 1 and the front guides 14 and the cam members 80 may extend upwardly from the bottom of the recess while the rear posts of the elevator may be supported on the floor proper.

It can now be seen that the described structure provides a thin but strong pile-supporting means for the pile which will accommodate sideways movement of the pile and movement of the pile toward and away from the front stakes, and that the present invention has provided a pile elevator including an elevatable pile support means which comprises a first support in the form of the rails 18, 19 and the framework 17, including the rollers 54, for supporting the first support for movement in one direction relative to the front stakes or front guide means, and a second support in the form of the elevatable stirrup members 23 and tie rails 18, 19 which supports the first support for movement in a horizontal direction parallel to the plane of the front guides 14. In addition, the pile can be moved toward and away from the front stakes 14 by operating air cylinders 69 which are connected to a load support member in the form of the load plate 16, which is supported on the first support by rollers 54 for movement parallel to the tie rails 31 31. The pile can be held against the front guides by maintaining a fluid pressure in the cylinders. Furthermore, the pile can be adjusted sideways by operating the ball screw 67 and the load plate will be automatically centered insofar as its sideways position is concerned when the pile-supporting platform is lowered.

As is apparent from the above description and the drawin s, the support, which is provided by the stirrups 23 and the tie rails 39, 31, to which support the cables 24 are connected, is constrained to move in a vertical path by the guide fingers 41B and the yokes 43, and the cross rail 18 is constrained to move in a vertical plane spaced from the front guides 14. This means that the pile being elevated must overhang the cross rail 18 in order to engage the front guides 14. As pointed out hereinbefore, the pile to be elevated is supported on a skid 12 and the skid 12 has a fiat board top 85 and front and rear depending legs 86 which are spaced inwardly of the front and rear sides of the board top 85. When the skid 12 with the pile thereon is placed onto the load plate 16, the load plate 16 is in a retracted position and the skid is placed so that the front leg 86 is adjacent the front edge of the load plate and so that the front portion 85a of the boardlike top which overhangs the front leg 36 extends outwardly beyond the load plate 16. The overhang of the portion 85a is sufficient so that when the actuators 61B are supplied with air to move the load plate 16 toward the front guides 14, the front edge of the skid and the front edge of the pile thereon will engage the front guides 14 before the limit of movement of the load plate 16 has been reached. Air pressure is preferably maintained on the load plate 16 while the pile is being elevated to assure that tie pile remains against the front guides 14.

It will be noted that the provision of the movable plate 16 not only enables the pile to be held against the front stake by power-actuated means, but also enables the plate 16 to be shifted rearwardly to a position which allows the skid 12 and a pile thereon to be loaded onto the load plate from the side of the feeder. It will be noted that the cables 24 prevent a load from being moved onto the elevator from the side with the front edge of the pile adjacent the plane of the front guides. Since the front cable 24 is disposed rearwardly of the front guides 14, the skid 12 must be initially positioned rearwardly of the front guides, and the load plate 16 then provides means for moving the pile against the front guides.

As shown in the drawings, the cables 24 pass over respective pulleys 89 supported by overhead framework extending between the front side frames 15 and the rear post 46 on each side of the feeder. Only the pulleys 89 on the near side of the elevator, as viewed in FIG. 1, are illustrated, but it is understood that the pulleys are duplicated on the other side of the elevator to support the cables located adjacent that side of the elevator. In pile elevators embodied in sheet feeders, the front pulleys 89 are conventionally adjustable in a vertical direction so that either of the front corners may be raised or lowered to adjust the level of the front edge of the pile. The front pulleys may each be supported by a member 90 which is pivotable about a horizontal axis and which can be moved about its pivot through the operation of a handwheel 91 which is geared to rotate a lead screw 92 that threads into a nut 93 supported by the member 90. The nut is fixed against rotation with the screw and is supported in an elongated slot 94 which accommodates the arcuate movement between the nut and member 90. Such structure is conventional and well known in the art and will not be further described in detail.

When one corner of the pile support is raised, there is a natural tendency to produce binding forces in the pile support and to cause binding between the cross rails 18, 19 and the supports therefor which provide for endwise movement of the rails. The fact that the tongues 22 of the rails 18, 19 are supported on rollers 28 and have clearance thereabove so they may rock on the rollers 28 and the fact that the stirrup members 23 are pivotally connected to the tie rails 34} accommodate the raising of one corner, with the detrimental effects normally associated with the raising of a single corner of the support minimized.

The described structure provides a thin high-strength pile support which provides for adjustment of the pile along perpendicularly related lines. While the present invention has been described in a pile elevator having a single hoist, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that the invention may also be embodied in a pile elevator having an auxiliary hoist combined therewith toobtain nonstop feeding. In such a pile elevator, the present invention would be most advantageously embodied in the main hoist of the elevator.

While the preferred embodiment of the present invention has been described in considerable detail, it is hereby ourintention to cover further constructions, modifica tions and arrangements which fall within the ability of those skilled in the art and within the scope and spirit of the present invention.

Having described our invention, we claim:

1. A pile elevator comprising a hoist for supporting and elevating a pile of sheets to be fed to a sheet-handling machine and vertical guide means defining a generally vertical plane along one side of said hoist and adapted to be engaged by and to guide one side of a pile being; elevated; said hoist including: generally horizontal pilesupporting means for supporting the pile for movement along a first line in opposite directions perpendicular to the plane of said vertical guide means and for adjustment in opposite directions along a horizontal line which is generally parallel to the plane of said guide means, said pile-supporting means comprising a generally horizontal support structure; and first means for elevating said support structure and supporting said horizontal support structure for movement along one of said lines, said first means including means for elfecting movement of said support structure along said one of said lines comprising a second structure vertically movable with said support structure and constrained against movement along said one of said lines and means interconnecting said structures for effecting adjustment of said support structure along said one of said lines, a load-supporting member supported on said support structure for movement along the other of said lines, actuatin means interconnecting said load supporting member and one of said structures for effecting adjustment between positions along said other of said lines, and means constraining said one of said structures against movement along said other of said lines.

2. A pile elevator as defined in claim 1 wherein the means for effecting adjustment along the line perpendicular to said guide means comprises a fluid pressure ac tuator.

3. A pile elevator as defined in claim 1 wherein said second structure carries said support structure and includes a plurality of elevatable members adjacent the sides of said support structure and said first means includes means suspending said support structure comprising flexible connectors connected to said second structure, said second structure being constrained to move vertically.

4. A pile elevator for elevating a pile of sheets, vertical guide means along one side of the elevator for engaging and guiding one side of the pile of sheets as the latter is elevated and defining a plane along said side of the elevator, a hoist for elevating the pile comprising pile-supporting means including a first support comprising a generally horizontal framework having horizontal elongated members extending outwardly. from the opposite sides thereof and parallel to the plane of said guide means, a second support comprising elevatable members adjacent said horizontal elongated members and supporting said elongated members to mount said first support on said second support for endwise movement relative to said elevatable members, a pile-supporting member supported on said framework for movement toward and away from said guide means, first actuating means connected to said pile supporting member and one of said Ill supports for effecting movement of said pile supporting member to and away from said guide means comprising motive means operable to continuously urge said pile supporting member toward said guide means to maintain engagement of a pile supported thereon with said guide means as the elevator is elevated, and means for suspending and elevating said elevatable members.

5. An elevator as defined in claim 4 including second actuating means interconnecting said supports and operable to move said first support parallel to said elongated members;

6. An elevator as defined in claim 5 wherein said elevator is a pile feeder elevator and said first actuating means comprises a fluid pressure actuator for reciprocating said load-supporting member toward and away from said guide means.

7. An elevator as defined in claim 4 wherein said elongated members comprise a pair of elongated members extending from each of said opposite sides of said framework, a stirrup member receiving each elongated member and a tie rail interconnecting the stirrup members on each side of the hoist, said stirrup members being pivoted to said tie rails for pivotal movement about horizontal axes parallel to said elongated members and said stirrup members each having a roller upon which the corresponding elongated member rests, said rollers being rotatable about axes perpendicular to said elongated members, said hoist including means for raising one of said stirrup members independently or" the others.

8. In a pile feeder, a hoist for elevating a pile to be fed to a sheet-handling machine, and vertical guide means along one side of said hoist adapted to be engaged by one side of a pile being elevated by said hoist to guide the pile as it is being elevated, said hoist including a generally horizontal support structure for supporting said pile including a load support member movable toward and away from said guide means, a second member elevatable with said load support member, means constraining said second member against movement toward and away from said guide means, and motive means connected between said load support member and said second member and operable to urge and move said load support member toward said vertical guide means to continuously urge the pile thereon against said guide means.

9. A pile feeder as defined in claim 8 wherein said motive means comprises a double-acting air actuator.

10. A pile feeder as defined in claim 8 including means for efiiecting movement of said load support member along a horizontal line parallel to the plane of said vertical guide means.

11. A pile feeder comprising a frame, a hoist for sup porting and elevating a pile of sheets to be fed to a sheethandling machine and vertical guide means along one side of said hoist adapted to be engaged by and to guide one side of a pile being elevated, said frame being open along a second side of said hoist transverse to said one side to provide for loading of said hoist from said second side and said hoist including: generally horizontal pile-supporting means for supporting the pile for movement along a first line in opposite directions perpendicular to the plane of said vertical guide means and for adjustment in opposite directions along a horizontal line which is generally parallel to said guide means, said pile-supporting means comprising a generally horizontal support structure; and first means for elevating said support structure and sup porting said horizontal support structure for movement along one of said lines, said first means including means for effecting said movement of said support structure comprising a second structure vertically movable with said support structure and constrained against movement along said one of said lines and means interconnecting said structures for effecting adjustment of said support structure along said one of said lines, a load-supporting member supported on said support structure for movement along the other of said lines, means interconnecting :3 said load supporting member and one of said structures for effecting said adjustment, and means constraining said one of said structures against movement along said other of said lines.

12. An elevator comprising a hoist for supporting and elevating a load and Vertical guide means defining a generally vertical plane along one side of said hoist adapted to be engaged by and to guide one side of a load being elevated, said hoist including generally horizontal loadsupporting means for supporting the load for movement along a first line in opposite directions perpendicular to the plane of said vertical guide means and for adjustment in opposite directions along a horizontal line which is generally parallel to the plane of said guide means, said load-supporting means comprising a generally horizontal support structure and first means for elevating said support structure and supporting said horizontal support structure for movement along one of said lines, said first means including means for effecting movement of said support structure along said one of said lines comprising a second structure vertically movable with said support structure and constrained against movement along said one of said lines and means interconnecting said structures for effecting adjustment of said support structure along said one of said lines, a load-supporting member supported on said support structure for movement along the other of said lines, actuating means interconnecting said load support member and one of said structures for eifecting adjustment between positions along said other of said lines and means constraining said one of said structures against movement along said other of said lines, the said means for effecting adjustment along said first line comprising motive means for continuously urging the one of said structures and said load supporting member to which the means for adjusting is connected toward said guide means to urge a pile on said load supporting member against said guide means as said hoist is elevated.

13. An elevator as defined in claim 12 wherein said motive means comprises a fiuid pressure actuator.

14. An elevator as defined in claim 13 wherein said framework is comprised of a plurality of inverted channel members and said rollers are rotatably supported by means connected to the sides of said channels.

15. An elevator as defined in claim 14 wherein said cross members are comprised of a vertical flange and a bottom flange extending horizontally inwardly from the vertical flange and supporting the adjacent ends of said channel members.

16. An elevator comprising a hoist for supporting and elevating a load and vertical guide means defining a generally vertical plane along one side of said hoist adapted to be engaged by and to guide one side of a load being elevated, said hoist including generally horizontal loadsupporting means which supports the load for adjustment along a first line of movement perpendicular to the plane of said vertical guide means and along a horizontal line of movement which is generally parallel to the said plane of said guide means, said load-supporting means comprising a first generally horizontal support comprised of spaced cross members extending parallel to the plane of said guide means, a second support comprising elevatable members adjacent the ends of said cross members and supporting said cross members for movement along one of said lines, a framework interconnecting said cross members, a

load support member on said first support, said framework including means supporting said load support member for movement along the other of said lines of movement, means interconnecting said supports for effecting movement along said one line of movement and means interconnecting said load support member and one of said supports for effecting movement of said load support member along said other line of movement, said means supporting said load support member on said first support comprising a plurality of rollers supported by said framework for rotation about axes parallel to said one line of movement.

17. An elevator for elevating a load, verticalguide means defining a generally vertical plane along one side of the elevator for engaging and guiding one side of the load as the latter is elevated, a hoist for elevating the load comprising load-supporting means including a first support comprising a generally horizontal framework having horizontal elongated members extending outwardly from opposite sides thereof and parallel to the plane of said guide means, a second support comprising elevatable members adjacent said horizontal elongated members and supporting said elongated members to mount said first support on said second support for endwise movement relative to said elevatable members, said framework including a plurality of roller means defining a load-supporting surface, a load-supporting member supported on said roller means, said roller means being supported by said framework for rotation about axes parallel to said cross rails, and means for suspending and elevating said elevatable members, said framework comprising spaced cross rails extending parallel to said guide means and a plurality of members extending between said cross rails and supporting said roller means, said elongated members extending from said cross members to be received in said elevatable members.

18. An elevator for elevating a load, vertical guide means defining a generally vertical plane along one side of the elevator for engaging and guiding one side of the load as the latter is elevated, a hoist for elevating the load comprising a generally horizontal framework having horizontal elongated members extending outwardly from opposite sides thereof and parallel to the plane of said guide means, a second support comprising elevatable members adjacent said horizontal elongated members and supporting said elongated members to mount said framework on said second support for endwise movement relative to said elevatable members, said framework including a plurality of roller means defining a load-supporting surface, a loadsupporting member supported on said roller means, said roll-er means being supported by said framework for rotation about axes parallel to said cross rails, and means for suspending and elevating said elevatable members, said framework comprising spaced cross rails extending parallel to said guide means and a plurality of inverted channels extending between said cross rails and supporting said roller means, said elongated members extending from said cross members to be received in said elevatable members.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

8. IN A PILE FEEDER, A HOIST FOR ELEVATING A PILE TO BE FED TO A SHEET-HANDLING MACHINE, AND VERTICAL GUIDE MEANS ALONG ONE SIDE OF SAID HOIST ADAPTED TO BE ENGAGED BY ONE SIDE OF A PILE BEING ELEVATED BY SAID HOIST TO GUIDE THE PILE AS IT IS BEING ELEVATED, SAID HOIST INCLUDING A GENERALLY HORIZONTAL SUPPORT STRUCTURE FOR SUPPORTING SAID PILE INCLUDING A LOAD SUPPORT MEMBER MOVABLE TOWARD AND AWAY FROM SAID GUIDE MEANS, A SECOND MEMBER ELEVATABLE WITH SAID LOAD SUPPORT MEMBER, MEANS CONSTRAINING SAID SECOND MEMBER AGAINST MOVEMENT TOWARD AND AWAY FROM SAID GUIDE MEANS, AND MOTIVE MEANS CONNECTED BETWEEN SAID LOAD SUPPORT MEMBER AND SAID SECOND MEMBER AND OPERABLE TO URGE AND MOVE SAID LOAD SECOND MEMBER AND TOWARD SAID VERTICAL GUIDE MEANS TO CONTINUOUSLY URGE THE PILE THEREON AGAINST SAID GUIDE MEANS. 